


The Fairest

by Miss_L



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Don't expect a happy ending, F/M, some headcanons about Legolas' mamma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 03:30:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3159581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_L/pseuds/Miss_L
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thranduil wasn't always a hard man with a heart of stone. Once, he, too, knew love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fairest

“There are gems in the mountain that I, too, desire. White gems of pure starlight.”

 

_”Who are you and what are you doing in these woods?”_

_She looks around and he is struck by her fairness. She is like pure starlight, bright and radiant, and he is momentarily speechless. In all his travels, he had never met one as beautiful._

_“Who are_ you?” _she bites back and he feels his inside churn with anger. How dare she!_

 _“I am Thranduil, son to the King of these woods. So…_ Who _are_ you?”

_Her name is as beautiful as she is, and yet they spend the first few months of their acquaintance bickering. He will never admit to it, but he loves her defiance._

…

_Someone is watching him play. He turns around sharply, and there she is. He feels himself blush. This… Hobby of his was meant to stay secret. Especially now. Unabashed, she steps forward._

_“That was beautiful.” Her smile is soft, and he feels something break in his chest. Or perhaps it is mending. He does not know._

_“You ought to have heard some of my Mother’s compositions.” The memory is still so fresh…_

_“How did she die?” she asks softly and comes closer._

_“A battle, almost one year ago.”_

_“I am so sorry.” She sits down beside him and smiles sadly. “Will you play me something of hers?”_

_When the last note of the lament dies away, he finally looks at her. Her face is streaked with tears. He wipes them away, and kisses her. Her fingers tangle themselves in his braids, and he relishes the feeling of her hands on his skin. Until the reality of the moment hits him and he jumps up with a start._

_“I apologise. I should not have done that.”_

_“It’s quite alright,” she says with the same soft expression as before._

_“No, it is not.” His voice sounds harsher than he intended it to. Panic is about to overtake him. Something in her changes. Gone is the smile, her face is all hard lines and servitude. She bows._

_“Yes, Sire,” she says coldly and walks away. He hopes she won’t think ill of him, but in his heart, he knows she will. As well she should._

 

“I do not think that you would allow your son to pledge himself to a lowly Silvan elf.”

“No... You are right, I would not. Still, he cares about you. Do not give him hope where there is none.”

 

_”Tell me about yourself?”_

_He is used to her indifference by now, but it still hurts. And it still doesn’t stop him from wanting to know more about her. From looking at her every chance he gets. From_ hoping.

_“There isn't much to tell, Sire.”_

_“I am certain that is not true.”_

_He watches her watch him with the same cold expression and it pierces his heart._

_“Why do you hate me so?” The words leave his mouth before he can stop them, but he does not wish to take them back._

_She is genuinely surprised. “I do not hate you, my Lord. I could never hate you. I consider serving you and your Father and honour.”_

_“Then why do you… Avoid me?” Not the description he wished to use, but she understands either way._

_“I have never been shunned for who I am before.” Her jaw is set, and he wants to kiss away the anger._

_“I would never shun you!”_

_“You already did.” It is a hard blow, and it takes him a few seconds to understand what she means. Then his eyes widen in realisation._ Is that what she thinks?

_“I… I did not mean to vex you, my Lady! But… I did not mean for you to think I would take advantage of you.”_

_“Why would I think that?” The anger is slowly dissipating from her features, but she is not ready to let go altogether. He didn't expect her to._

_“Because it has been known to happen. Not to me,” he hastens to reassure her. “But my elder brother had… Quite a reputation with serving maids.”_

_“You had an elder brother?”_

_“He died many years ago.”_

_Many emotions pass like shadows over her lovely visage. He waits for the verdict._

_“I am sorry. It must be hard, suddenly becoming the crown prince…”_

_He knows it is a test, but he cannot quite keep the pain and fear out of his voice when he whispers “yes.”_

_For the first time in months, she is smiling at him again. It would seem he passed the test._

__

“There is no love in your heart!”

Even through his anger, Thranduil feels the sharp pang of pain. It never lessens, and it never leaves. No matter how much time passes. He cleaves Tauriel’s bow in two and almost kills her – a fate fitting her betrayal – were it not for his foolish son. He’ll learn someday…

___“What troubles you, my Lord?”_ _ _

___“My Father.” He could not keep himself from being honest with her if his life depended on it. He really hopes it will never come to that. “I… I doubt he thinks me a good replacement. According to him, I oughtn't be friends to my people. I ought to rule over them.” He never wished to voice his worries, but it feels good to confide in her._ _ _

___“To Hell with what your Father thinks!” She always was frank, and he always loved her for it. She puts her soft hands on his face and looks him deep in the eyes. He sometimes thinks she can see his soul, and it chills him to wonder what she would find there. “You will be a better king than your Father ever was. The people love you, and respect you, and while he is a good ruler, he lacks your kindness and understanding. Never let anyone make you be untrue to yourself.”_ _ _

___She kisses him softly, and he thinks then that she will make a good Queen. She has already conquered his heart, after all. His Father would never understand him marrying a “lowly servant”, but maybe someday…_ _ _

__

“Why does it hurt so much?”

“Because it was real…”

__

___The image is still clear as a sunny day. There is no escaping it. He watches the light of his life fade. Their child is safe, but at what price?_ _ _

___“All is as it should be,” she says, blood rattling in her lungs. He thought he had shed all the tears he had at his Mother’s death. He had been so,_ so _wrong…__ _

___“No,” he whispers, and that only makes her smile wider. Her hand is cold against his cheek. She is not long for this world now._ _ _

___“Take good care of him,” she pleads._ _ _

___Just like that, her light fades. He feels the inside of his chest shatter before it turns to ice._ _ _

___…_ _ _

___He tries to be a good father. Yet, each time he looks at his son, he is reminded of_ her. _He cannot bear to think, let alone speak of her. He often wonders if it had not been better if he had died that day.__ _

__

“My Lord?” The High Councillor looks up at the King with worry on his face. Thranduil realises he is still holding his wife’s necklace in his hand. The clasp had broken and he had sent it to Erebor to be fixed by those whose craft was best in all the lands. Little had he known that the Dragon would attack a few days later…

“Yes?”

“My Lord, Lord Elrond’s envoy has arrived. They are asking for our help at Minas Tirith. Would you send them away?”

“No,” he says and rises from his cold, hard throne. “We have endured long enough. Bring me my armour.”


End file.
